U.K. Sport To Invest $1.1M To Launch Elite Coaching Program To Prepare for Rio Games

U.K. Sport will "launch an elite coaching programme that it hopes will strike fear into Great Britain's rivals on the road" to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, according to James Riach of the London GUARDIAN. The organization aims to develop 12 high achieving coaches from "world class level to world leading" during the three-year period up to the 2016 Games at a cost of £720,000 ($1.1M), with sports such as boxing, rowing, judo and canoeing "expected to emulate the success of British cycling." U.K. Sport "is also set to significantly increase its funding for coaches during the next Olympic cycle." It hopes the program "will see Britain build on the success of last summer" and avoid a backward step comparable to Australia's, which hosted the Olympics in '00 but finished 10th in the '12 medal table. U.K. Sport Head of Coaching Graham Taylor said: "My aim is for other sporting nations to be scared of coming to Britain and competing because our coaches are at such a level that they find it hard to compete against our athletes and our teams. The rest of the world is getting super competitive." A key element of the new program "is the coach journey tracker system that was piloted during and after London 2012, aimed at helping coaches make better decisions for their athletes' development" (GUARDIAN, 11/25).